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Yes, an agreement will be reached, we will get to watch hockey.

1 (10%)

No, there will be more disaggreements, and the season will be cancelled

4 (40%)

There could be a part season...better than nothing

5 (50%)

Total Members Voted: 10

[Spudcote]

Just wondering what you think might happen.

[Alex015]

don't count on it, get ready to watch some BRUTAL, BRUTAL hockey in the WHA... go watch some local Junior hockey, it looks like it's all we'll get this year.

[Fish Assassin]

Speaking of the WHA what ever happened to the franchise that was supposed to come to Vancouver ?

[blaydRnr]

a lock out is long time coming.  the players association and owners need to resolve their differences, one way or the other.
 myself, i would like to see where gretzky and lemieux stand on the matter,  considering they both played key roles in the creation of the 'million dollar' contract.
 
  IMHO, the players need to wake up and smell the coffee.

[Koho]

There won't be a season.  

I wonder how Mario looks at it since he's still a player and also part owner right?

[blaydRnr]

There won't be a season.  

I wonder how Mario looks at it since he's still a player and also part owner right?

(Lemieux)..."CBC news?...comment on player's salary?...justification of lockout? ...Uh...Uh.......Je ne parles pas anglais? ....

[Alex015]

why hasn't anyone come up with a camparison of the NHL salaries compared to other's, something like money/game to see how they are compared?  anyone know if there has been anything like this?

[Spudcote]

We have a lock-out  

[Redeye]

why hasn't anyone come up with a camparison of the NHL salaries compared to other's, something like money/game to see how they are compared?  anyone know if there has been anything like this?

Because you can't compare apples with oranges...  sports like the NFL are much harder on the body that's why they only play once per week and have a much shorter career.... sports like MLB are much easier on the body so they play 3 days in a row sometimes or twice in one day (except the pitchers who are some of the most out of shape athletes in the world.... but they can sure throw a ball fast).... so you can't really do a money/game comparison because certain sports allow you to play more games or less games in a season.

On a side note... most pitchers don't even play the whole game  

I wish I was a pitcher in the MLB...  only play 1 out of ever 4 games....  most of the time you don't even have to finish playing the whole game...  don't have to worry about batting average...  don't have to run fast...  

But you do have to throw that ball pretty fast... still a pretty good gig if you can get it.

[blaydRnr]

why hasn't anyone come up with a camparison of the NHL salaries compared to other's, something like money/game to see how they are compared?  anyone know if there has been anything like this?

Because you can't compare apples with oranges...  sports like the NFL are much harder on the body that's why they only play once per week and have a much shorter career.... sports like MLB are much easier on the body so they play 3 days in a row sometimes or twice in one day (except the pitchers who are some of the most out of shape athletes in the world.... but they can sure throw a ball fast).... so you can't really do a money/game comparison because certain sports allow you to play more games or less games in a season.

On a side note... most pitchers don't even play the whole game  

I wish I was a pitcher in the MLB...  only play 1 out of ever 4 games....  most of the time you don't even have to finish playing the whole game...  don't have to worry about batting average...  don't have to run fast...  

But you do have to throw that ball pretty fast... still a pretty good gig if you can get it.

the truth of the matter is, marketing.

most of the money is in the states. they control the market.
if a sport isn't american dominated, they don't like   promoting it.  the only reason why the nhl survives there is because of american ownership (of teams).

its wishful thinking (on the players part), to think that canadian dominated hockey will be put at the same level,
as american baseball or american football.

as much as i love hockey.....a lock out is exactly what the league needs to stop the bleeding.

[Bantam_50]

Keep them locked out....If the players really think that ALL the owners are racking it in....then why are prices continuing to skyrocket. This isn't the MLB or NFL.

[blaydRnr]

i don't know if its the players or their agents, but the bottom line is 'GREED'.
 like any other business,  it's the owners that takes all the risks.  they're the ones who have to make the books balance and take all the hits when their team loses money. players on the other hand, are guaranteed theirs.

 the people i really feel sorry for are those behind the scenes (concession stand attendants, maintenance, etc), but you never hear about them or their meager wages.

why else do you think,  players can afford to stand fast on their demands?  In any other fields, employees would go broke.

some players are going to europe to play, others are going to the minors to 'hone' their skills.  either way, they're going to end up 'bumping off' players that would otherwise be playing.

I say it's time, that us fans,  need to put our foot down and say enough is enough. after all, we are the ones who really decide what a player is worth.  

[Alex015]

the players taht are going to play semi-pro in europe are not going to make nearly the amount of money that they have made in the NHL... i know becuase i have played hockey with 2 people taht have played there.  also, many of the players live i dunno how you would put it, but a "luxury life."  they CANNOT afford to stay making 200k a year with the way that they live... it's impossible, just ask my man mike tyson  

[Koho]

why hasn't anyone come up with a camparison of the NHL salaries compared to other's, something like money/game to see how they are compared?  anyone know if there has been anything like this?

Here are some salary charts I found for the 4 major pro leagues paid in the most recent season.  These show the top 25 player salaries.

NHL top 25 salaries

NBA top 25 salaries

NFL top 25 salaries

MLB top 25 salaries

We see that the top salaries are in the NBA and MLB followed by the NFL and then the NHL.  

A good comparison is between the NBA and NHL since they both play 82 games and play in the same arenas so they have about the same fan capacity.  We see that at the very top end, the top NBA players salaries are more than double that of the NHL.


But then we look at the total payroll for the entire teams and we see that the NBA is still higher, but not much higher than the NHL.  The highest payrolls are still in baseball and football.  

NHL total payroll

NBA total payroll

NFL total payroll

MLB total payroll


So why the huge difference in individual salary but not much in total team payroll between hockey and basketball?  Well, I'm guessing that because the NBA is a less physical game it only requires a full roster of 12 players.  In the NHL, the roster is nearly double that.  So the NHL total payroll needs to go to more players.  Equipment costs are also more expensive in hockey compared to basketball.

To compare against football is more difficult because they only play 16 games a season but their stadiums fill 60,000+.  Football also generates a lot of tv revenue.  Look at all the games on tv every Sunday.

Baseball is another difficult comparison because the season is 162 games long and their stadiums can fill 40-50,000 fans.  It also has a huge American following compared to hockey.

[blaydRnr]

great report. basically, that's what it comes down to....fan base. doesn't matter how rich an owner is or how good the players are, if the seats don't fill and the tv rating drops, the team ceases to exist.

unfortunately, too many 'pre madonnas' fail to see this or don't care because they've already made their millions.